Final, KU wins 88-51

Cole Aldrich put the finishing touches on the contest along with Jeremy Case. First, Aldrich finished off a missed layup with a two-handed slam. Then Case stroked a three to put KU up by 35 with just seconds to go.

Mario Chalmers led four Jayhawks in double figures with 17 points, including a three-of-four showing from the three-point arc. Brandon Rush also hit a trio of threes, scoring 13. KU shot 56.7 percent from the floor, while Ohio struggled right from go, shooting just 28.3 percent on the afternoon, including under 20 percent in the first half.

KU now has a quick turnaround, traveling to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

3:57, second half, KU leads 75-46

Out of the full break, Darrell Arthur bumped his point total to 13, throwing down a lob on a toss from Russell Robinson. Arthur then got himself to the free throw line two possessions later, sandwiched around a three from Mario Chalmers.

Arthur hit one of two to give himself 14 on the afternoon, and Bill Self followed it by subbing in five fresh players, Ohio’s Bert Whittington hit a three to make it a 75-43 game, then hit another to pull the Bobcats within 29.

All four Jayhawks who have scored in double figures (Chalmers 17, Arthur 14, Rush 13, Jackson 13) have taken a seat for the day.

7:40, second half, KU leads 69-37

Ohio chipped back in a bit thanks to some sloppy KU play up atop the key. Bert Whittington cashed in with a pair of swipes in the KU halfcourt set, soaring in for easy layups both times.

Russell Robinson finally broke the turnover-laden monotony with his second three of the game, coming on the left wing. Robinson then swiped a pass near midcourt and fed Mario Chalmers for an easy opencourt dunk to put KU back up by 32 at 69-37.

11:54, second half, KU leads 64-32

After a couple of stale possessiosn on both ends out of the timeout, Russell Robinson woke up the crowd some with a lobbed toss to Sasha Kaun, who flushed it home iwth two hands. Then, following a Tommy Freeman two oon the other end, Brandon Rush got an open two-handed dunk to push KU to a 62-30 lead.

Mario Chalmers then collected his fourth steal of the game, knifed down the floor and threw down a one-handed dunk, giving him 12 points, as KU has started to throw it into cruise control, leading 64-32 with 11:54 to go.

5:15, second half, KU leads 58-28

Darrell Arthur scored two from the line after an early bucket for the Bobcats. Arthur then matched the team high of 11 points with Darnell Jackson and Brandon Rush on two off the glass inside.

Chalmers then gave himself 10 on the night after keeping an Ohio possession empty for the first time in the half. Darrell Arthur snatched the board and Chalmers coasted in down the baseline to put two in off the glass.

Russell Robinson extended KU’s lead to 55-26, scoring for the first time on a three atop the key as Bill Self continued to bark at his team on the defensive end. The ensuing Ohio possession saw Leon Williams make it 55 games straight with a field goal, scoring his first two away from the free throw line on the afternoon.

Sherron Collins then hit his second three of the game to give KU a 30-point lead for the first time today, giving himself six points on the afternoon.

Halftime, KU leads 46-20

Darnell Jackson slipped in a pair off the glass after a 30-second timeout, tying him with Brandon Rush with a team-high 11 points. After an Ohio turnover, Sasha Kaun grabbed an offensive board off a Tyrel Reed miss and scored his first points of the game.

Rush’s 11 points in the first half came mostly off of three early three-pointers. KU as a team shot at a 58.6 percent clip in the first half, while Ohio struggled, connecting on just five-of-29 attempts (16.7 percent). Ohio has just one two-point basket through one half, and Leon Williams’ streak of consecutive games with a field goal (54) is in jeopardy after one half. The Jayhawks damage came mostly on a 32-4 run starting early in the half.

1:33, first half, KU leads 42-18

A Brandon Rush blocked shot in transition led to a Darrell Arthur bucket on the break at the other end, as he skied from several feet out and dropped it in without contact on the rim. Cole Aldrich then got into the scoring column for the first time with an offensive board off a Brandon Rush misse and putting it back in, giving KU a 32-4 run. Justin Orr finally stung back a bit for Ohio with the team’s fourth three. Bubba Walther then hit two free throws, making it 42-18 with KU way out in front.

3:44, first half, KU leads 38-13

After a lenthy possession out of the full break, Mario Chalmers hit his second three of the game, this one coming from NBA range on the left wing. In response, Ohio got to the free throw line for the first time on the afternoon, with Leon Williams taking the foul. Williams, Ohio’s leading scorer got on the board for the first time, sinking both.

Ohio tried to string together a little run, but to no avail. After turning it over, Darnell Jackson collected a Darrell Arthur miss, slipped it back in over the rim and was fouled in the process. His free throw gave him nine points so far before taking a seat in place of Cole Aldrich.

Arthur hit one of two free throws after drawing contact inside to push KU’s lead to 38-13, and then collected a defensive rebound off another Ohio three miss. His outlet pass to Sherron Collins was off-target, though, sending the game into the final full break of the first half.

7:28, first half, KU leads 31-11

Darnell Jackson threw down a lob pass with two hands before yet another TV timeout, and out of it, KU didn’t skip a beat, with Sherron Collins cashing a three and Mario Chalmers stealing a ball at halfcourt and streaking in for a one-handed dunk in the open floor to extend KU’s lead to 29-9.

Justin Orr scored the Bobcats’ first two-point bucket of the game nearly 11 minutes in. Rodrick Stewart, in the game for Brandon Rush, got to the free throw line and responded with a pair of charities.

KU took a 31-11 lead into the game’s third full break, with Ohio shooting just 22 percent from the floor, compared to KU’s 61.1 percent.

11:15, first half, KU leads 22-9

KU’s Darnell Jackson controlled the game’s opening tip, with KU wearing its red uniforms for the second time this year. KU’s first possession resulted in a turnover, however, on an errant pass up top from Mario Chalmers to Rusell Robinson.

Ohio went scoreless on its first possession. After KU swung the ball around the perimeter a bit on the way back down, Brandon Rush, making his first start of the season, stroked a three from the right corner. Jerome Tillman matched Rush’s trifecta on the other end, tying it up 3-3 just under two minutes in.

Rush came back and did the deed again, this time from the opposite corner, to put KU ahead 6-3. Tillman tried to respond again but this time just drew front iron. Rush then slashed to the rim and found Darrell Arthur with an over-the-head pass for an easy two. Ohio’s Bubba Walther responded with a three.

After Darnell Jackson had a put-back dunk waived off due to the ball being on the rim, Ohio couldn’t score on two attempts to tie the game. Brandon Rush yet again went to the rack, this time dropping in two free throws to give him eight of KU’s first 10 points.

Walther responded with yet another Ohio three, but Darnell Jackson put KU back up three with a two atop the key.

Jackson scored again inside, and after Ohio missed its second straight three, Mario Chalmers hit KU’s third deep ball of the game, forcing Ohio into a 30-second timeout at the 14:23 mark with the Jayhawks up 17-9.

Darrell Arthur scored after Russell Robinson forced a turnover on a halfcourt trap to extend KU’s lead into double digits.

Then, Sasha Kaun swatted an Ohio shot to keep the Bobcats’ drought going. Kaun then collected back-to-back offensive boards off of KU misses, and after a Sherron Collins offensive rebound, Brandon Rush hit yet another three, giving him 11 points early with KU up 22-9.

Kaun then blocked a three-look up top for Michael Allen, but Rush’s fourth three look was just long with the game clock dripping under the 12-minute mark.

Pregame

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Sprint Center has already seen the CBE Classic and a littany of Garth Brooks concerts in its young life, and today the No. 3 Kansas men’s basketball team takes its show to the brand new hardwood in Kansas City.

KU will play its annual regular contest in KC today against 6-2 Ohio, fresh off a 61-55 win Wednesday night at Maryland. KU hasn’t played since last Saturday’s 84-66 thumping of DePaul in Allen Fieldhouse, using the past week instead to focus mainly on knocking out finals week in successful fashion.

Ohio will bring a challenge mainly for the KU big men, with the Bobcats’ top four scorers standing 6-foot-5 or taller. They’re led by the trio of Leon Williams (16.8 ppg, 10.0 rpg), Jerome Tillman (15.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Bubba Walther (14.0 ppg).

KU for once is starting to look like a healthy team. Junior Brandon Rush seems to be close to 100 percent coming off of ACL surgery, and is averaging 10.7 points per outing. He’s one of five Jayhawks averaging in double digits in the scoring column. Another one of those five is sophomore Sherron Collins, who has played just three games this season thanks to a stress fracture in his right foot, but made his return last Saturday scoring six points in the win. He’s averaging 12.7 per.

Tip time today is set for 4 p.m., with the game being broadcast live on ESPN2 (Sunflower Broadband channel 34, 234 in HD).